People and the History of the Rouge Green Corridor - Economic ...

People and the History of the Rouge Green
Corridor
The following is a timeline that describes places, people and events
important to the history of the Rouge Green Corridor:
12,000 BC – Paleo-Indians arrive in Oakland County. The first small
bands of nomadic people arrived in Oakland County following the retreat
of the Wisconsin glacier. As Native American cultures developed, they
used the Rouge River for drinking, bathing, a source of food, and as a
transportation route.
1618 – Europeans Arrive. French explorer, Etienne Brule, landed at the
narrows of Sault Ste. Marie, thought to be the first European to have
reached Michigan. He found well established tribes of Native Americans.
Trading posts were started along the Rouge.
July 24, 1701 – Detroit Begins. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, French
commander of the Fort at Mackinac, landed in Detroit to establish a
trading post called Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit.
1760 – French rule of Detroit ends and British begins.
1775 – Revolutionary War begins.
September 3, 1783 – Britain cedes Michigan to the United States. This
occurred through the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War.
However, it was legally recognized that the land that made up Michigan
belonged to the native tribes until it was ceded to the United States by
treaty.
November 17, 1807 – Treaty of Detroit. An area of land approximating
the southeast quarter of the lower peninsula of Michigan was ceded to

the United States by the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi
nations for $10,000 in money, goods, and domestic animals, as well as
hunting rights on U.S. lands.
1807 – Tonquish and Seginsiwin Reservations established. In the Treaty
of Detroit, Potawatomi negotiated reserving the main Native American
villages in the Rouge Green Corridor, called Tonquish and Seginsiwin, for
their own use. It is likely that the Seginsiwin village persisted, because
the Potawatomi had an agricultural base, and this village was described
as hilly to level with ash, sugar maple, oak and beech. However, the
Tonquish village may have been abandoned, as it was described as
brushy, wet, or swampy with stands of poor oak.
January 12, 1819 – Oakland County established. Governor Lewis Cass
issued a proclamation that laid out the boundaries of the County,
establishing Pontiac as the County seat in 1820.
1819 – Birmingham’s first permanent European resident. John West
Hunter built the first log cabin in what would become Birmingham.
Unlike nearby farming communities, Birmingham founders established a
manufacturing-based economy with foundries, tanneries, blacksmith
shops, and other businesses. By the 1860’s the industry was all but
gone, but a quiet village had been established.
1820’s – Lumbering and Farming. The opening of lands to European
settlement was greatly expanded through the efforts of General Lewis
Cass, Governor of the Michigan Territory from 1813 – 1831. The main
professions were lumbering and farming. Farms produced wheat, Indian
corn, oats, and potatoes, as well as livestock products such as wool and
butter. Sheep were washed in the Rouge before sheering.
1823 – Southfield’s first resident arrives. John Daniels settled in
Southfield as a farmer. Subsequent settlers cleared areas near springs
and tributaries of the Rouge. One such stream was called Plum Hollow
because of the wild plums growing along its banks.

September 19, 1827 – Potawatomi removed. The remaining Native
Americans in southern Michigan were re-located westward beyond the
Mississippi River.
1829 – First sawmill built on the Rouge River in Southfield (now Beverly
Hills) by Joshua Davis and Michael Beach. Water was diverted from the
Rouge River into a mill pond to run the mill. The water was at times eight
to ten feet deep. William Erity began running the mill in 1855, and
expanded its operations to include a grist mill, cider mill, vinegar factory,
and a one-room school house. Later, a carding and fulling mill was built
in a small building on the dam. In the same year, Moses Rodgers built
the first public house, a log cabin, along the Rouge on what is now
Shiawassee Road.
July 12, 1830 – Southfield splits from Bloomfield Township. When first
established, the two southern townships were considered one and called
Bloomfield Township. On this date, Southfield Township split from
Bloomfield and became Ossewa Township. But seventeen days later, the
citizens decided to change the name to Southfield because of its location
in the “south fields” of Bloomfield.
1836 – Detroit authorizes its first sanitary sewer. Called the Grand
Sewer, it enclosed Savoyard Creek which flowed from Cadillac Square
directly to the Detroit River, and later into the Rouge River. It was
thought that “dilution is the solution,” and that water was capable of
purifying itself through the river’s current. Before sewers, people dealt
with sanitary waste through cesspools, vaults, and privies.
January 26, 1837 – Michigan is admitted to the Union as the 26 th State.
During the next half-century, railroads, roads, and canals were built to
support lumbering and farming. Immigrants continued to arrive,
primarily from Germany, Ireland, and Holland.

1837 – First gristmill built in Southfield along the Rouge. This business
was built at 10-1/2 Mile Road (Civic Center Drive) east of the Rouge.
Along with a blacksmith shop, tavern (which became the Southfield
Hotel), store and post office, they created the economic hub known as
Southfield Centre or “The Bergh.” The Southfield Hotel served fish from
the Rouge as their specialty. This building is preserved in Greenfield
Village.
Mid 1800’s – Rouge River used as a path for the Underground Railroad.
At this time, Oakland County is home to approximately 30,000 people.
April 12, 1861 – Civil War begins. Michigan contributed 90,000 troops to
the Union side of the war.
1876 – Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch developed the germ theory of
disease.
August 10, 1889 – Simonson vs. Erity – William Erity, a successful
Southfield businessman, sunk a six-inch well on his property and let it
run into the Rouge River (probably to supplement the flow during dry
seasons for his mills). Mr. Simonson sued Erity, claiming that Erity’s well
reduced the flow from his own well. It was shown that both wells were
fed from the same aquifer. Even so, Mr. Simonson had to pay court
costs, and the jury decided that no action was to be taken against Mr.
Erity.
1900’s – Connection made between sanitary discharge in rivers and
water-borne disease. With the practice of discharging sanitary sewerage
into rivers, water-borne disease, such as typhoid, became a serious
problem as populations along the Rouge and Detroit Rivers rose.
Oakland County’s population has risen to approximately 50,000 by this
time.
1933 – Birmingham incorporates as a City.

1940 – Detroit begins treating sanitary sewerage. For years, the idea of
treating sewerage was rejected because it was deemed too expensive.
However, the typhoid epidemics of the early 1900’s convinced City
officials that they had no choice. The first Detroit Wastewater Treatment
Plant served the City and eleven outlying suburbs, including Southfield
Township.
1950 – Oakland County’s population increased to 400,000 (eight times
greater than 1900 population). During the 50’s and 60’s, over 40,000
acres were platted in Oakland County.
September 23, 1957 – Village of Westwood is incorporated. The
community was chartered as the Village of Beverly Hills in 1959.
April 21, 1958 – Southfield residents vote to incorporate the Township as
a city.
1964 – Detroit becomes provider of wastewater treatment for the sixcounty
metropolitan area.
1972 – Federal Water Pollution Control Act. This act required all
municipal wastewater treatment facilities to provide primary and
secondary treatment of plant discharges. After being amended in 1977,
it became known as the Clean Water Act. It protects waters from
pollutants as well as sets water quality standards.
1977 – U.S. EPA filed a lawsuit to stop pollution at the Detroit Water and
Sewerage Plant. By 1983, Detroit had spent $500 million to fix the
problems in sewerage discharges.
1983 – Judge John Feikens begins watershed approach to cleaning up the
Rouge. Communities realized that in addition to pollution from
combined sewer overflows, a major source of pollution to the Rouge River
was stormwater runoff from rapidly developing areas. Judge John
Feikens, a Federal District Judge in Detroit, used the EPA’s 1977 lawsuit

to begin a series of formal orders and regular hearings to bring together
three counties and 48 communities to cooperate on a plan to restore the
126 miles of the Rouge River.
1989 – 1994 Rouge River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) drafted and
amended. A 136-page report (RAP) was created to outline the
considerable progress that had been made in addressing water pollution
sources in the Rouge, and outlined additional steps needed to restore
uses, such as fishing and swimming, that were still impaired by pollution.
Late 1990’s – Rouge River Subwatersheds begin planning. Communities
within the Rouge River watershed organized themselves into
subwatershed groups to address water quality issues. One of these
groups, the Rouge River Main 1-2 Subwatershed Advisory Group, formed
to coordinate the protection and restoration of this subwatershed. The
Rouge Green Corridor is part of the Main 1-2 Subwatershed.
2000 – Oakland County’s population is almost 1.2 million people.
2001 – Main 1-2 Rouge River Subwatershed Management Plan completed.
A major goal of this plan is to involve the public in reducing the amount
of pollutants that reach the river.
2004 – Main 1-2 Rouge River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) amended. The
Rouge RAP was amended to summarize existing watershed conditions, as
well as current restoration and protection efforts.
2005 and Beyond – Residents adopt the Rouge Green Corridor and
protect it for future generations.